The Big Bonk

From a dinged Chevy to some unlucky reindeer, a look at the impact of space rocks

At the time of this writing, an asteroid 150 feet across was hurtling toward our planet, E.T.A. Feb. 15. Hopefully, it didn’t hit us. But there have been many instances of space objects that did collide with Earth, most notably the asteroid blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, as well as the 1972 meteorite that had a similar effect on a Venezuelan cow. And while we may have the deepest sympathy for the Milanese monk reputedly dispatched by a space rock in 1650, we can also take comfort in the fact that human casualties have been exceedingly rare. —CHRIS WRIGHT